SCSN and the Shi’a

Nigeria is an entity blessed with shades of cultures, peoples and religions, this floral diversity most often times provides a combustible mix largely as a result of social and religious friction, stoked by intolerant and bigoted persons and institutions. Religious conflicts thematically tend to acutely be more overbearing as a result of the importance Religious […]

Nigeria is an entity blessed with shades of cultures, peoples and religions, this floral diversity most often times provides a combustible mix largely as a result of social and religious friction, stoked by intolerant and bigoted persons and institutions.
Religious conflicts thematically tend to acutely be more overbearing as a result of the importance Religious Faith plays in the lifestyles of citizens. Most often than not, religious disharmony between the Christian and Islamic faiths has, particularly in Northern Nigeria placed a wedge amongst a people with commonly shared traditions and aspirations; of becoming “a nation bound in freedom, peace and unity” as contained in our National anthem. Thus, finding a panacea to these incessant conflicts is a necessity for all dutiful Nigerians and in this regard, a burden lies on the government to keenly pursue policies that would protect all Religious and Non-religious Faiths within the space of our Constitution. The Kaduna State Government has recently in atypical manner published the findings of the Judicial Committee of Inquiry (JCI) after a remarkable public discourse on religious conflict between the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Nigerian Army, the report containing the culpability or otherwise of the principal actors were made and recommendations given.
From the reactions of diehard religious fanatics and bigots, it may seem that this report by the JCI and its recommendations has not gone down well as such, the mercenaries and foot soldiers of disunity and chaos are now on the loose, in their bid to scupper or jettison the recommendations of that report from the JCI. The Communiqué of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), Kaduna chapter announced by Yusuf Sambo Rigachikun seeks to further inflame and widen the gulf between the Muslim Ummah, thus, perpetuating ad nauseum the hostility within Islam. The Communiqué seeks the Federal Government’s assistance to “ban Shia Islam, from the wide spectrum of sects and two religions that have forever enjoyed the insular and protective measures explicitly provided in our Constitution.
The dis-ingenuity of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) to coopt the Nigeria government to fight the fight of foreign entities of which the Wahhabi infested Sharia Council is part of, becomes a perplexing one. The SCSN’s bid to embroil the government in perpetual conflict with its citizens is apparently a no brainer. That the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria bestows upon these Muslims, the same rights as any person with or without any religious affiliation a right to practice his or her belief in a manner that is not inimical to the Nigerian State, and must be acknowledged as such. This Constitutional guarantee of the freedom of religious belief is irreversible regardless of their whimsical outcry to stir animosity against the Shi’a. 
His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto should in good counsel, provide a window of dialogue between the broader Muslim groups in the country in a bid to stem the tide.

Ali Jatau, Rigachikun, Kaduna State